Liam Gillick
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Liam Gillick (born 1964, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire) is an English artist associated with the Young British Artists (YBAs). He was nominated for the Turner Prize. He works in various media, including video, computer animation and installation.
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[edit] Life and work
Liam Gillick studied at Hertfordshire College of Art and Goldsmiths College (1984 – 87). Since 1997 he has taught at Columbia University[citation needed].
In May 2000 he was guest professor at the Research Programme, CCA in Kitakyushu, Japan. During that time he created an installation in the studio communal area. This consisted of benches, low tables, bookshelves and Japanese lanterns. Following this, he was commissioned to make work for a new sculpture court outside the Clore Gallery at Tate Britain. This again was an installation including benches, tables, shelving units and lighting. The work was described as an amalgam of sculpture, design and architecture.[1]
He "appropriates the forms of corporate office architecture" and "investigates the semiotics of architecture in fictional yet non-narrative essays and books, installations, and objects" with references to earlier movements such as De Stijl in Holland and the geometrical forms of Piet Mondrian's paintings. An example of this is a piece in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Local Discussion Screen (2001-02). This measures 96 x 144 x 12" (243.8 x 365.8 x 30.5 cm.). It is made from aluminum and red acrylic glass. At a cursory inspection, it would appear to be an office screen or part of a commercial exhibition stand, and can only be understood in its intended (i.e. gallery) context, and on the basis that "It is difficult to separate Gillick’s artworks from his complex and on-going intellectual discourse about the interaction of social, moral, political, and ideological forces in the environment.[2]
In May 2002, he had his first major solo show in London, The Wood Way, at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. This featured work made since the mid-1990s and in particular two series, The What if? Scenario and Discussion Island/Big Conference Centre... The title of the show refers to the German expression "Holzweg"— taking the "wood way" means taking the wrong turning and getting lost in the woods. The ground floor of the Whitechapel contained a specially constructed labyrinth by Gillick, so "Walking through the exhibition may well feel like taking "The Wood Way" both literally and metaphorically."[3]
In 2002 he was a nominee for the Turner Prize. His display was a mostly empty environment, dominated by a ceiling of brightly-coloured acrylic glass squares with light shining through them.
In 2003 he received a joint commission from London Underground Platform for Art programme and Frieze Art Fair to create a set of posters to be put in unused spaces at Great Portland Street tube station. These have strong single colours and text in simple typography, and were promoted by London Underground:
- The work makes use of transcripts of non-specific television advertising – placing the structure of one communication medium into another. The structure of the message overwhelms the product and we are left to reflect on the potential of narrative and presentation.[4]
A further project for London Undergorund, announced in January 2007, was the design of the cover for the Underground map, of which 15 million copies are distributed every year. His design, entitled The Day Before (You Know What They'll Call It? They'll Call it the Tube) shows the words of the date of the last day before the Underground opened, written in twelve sets of coloured letters symbolising the twelve rail lines. [5]
Other projects he has undertaken include several books, and collaborations with architectural schemes, including the new airport terminal in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and an extension to Cambridge City Library, Harvard Square, Massachusetts.[4]
He divides his time between London and New York City.
[edit] Shows
Group exhibitions include Documenta X, Kassel (1997), and Intelligence: New British Art 2000 (Tate Triennial), Tate Britain (2000).
Solo shows include Hamburg Kunstverein (1998) and the Arnolfini, Bristol (2000).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Absolute arts Retrieved March 23, 2006
- ^ Abright-Knox Art Gallery Retrieved March 23, 2006
- ^ Whitechapel Art Gallery Retrieved March 23, 2006
- ^ a b "headache/phone card/soda/donuts/stereo" tfl.gov.uk. Accessed April 16, 2006
- ^ London Underground press release tfl.gov.uk. Accessed 23 January 2007
[edit] External links
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1964 births | Living people | Alumni of Goldsmiths College, University of London | Columbia University faculty | Conceptual artists | Contemporary artists | English artists | Installation artists
